This House is an African House
“This house is an African house./ This your body is an African woman’s body…” By Kadija Sesay.
Property of a Sorceress
“She died under mango trees, under kola nut/ and avocado trees, her nose pressed to their roots,/ her hands buried in dead leaves, her thin legs/ spread out like palm oil in a hot pan.” By Viola Allo.
Sketches of my Mother
“The mother of my memories was elegant. She would not step out of the house without her trademark red lipstick and perfect hair. She did not walk with slow steps as this stranger did…” By Chika Unigwe.
Transgendered
“Lagos is a chronicle of liquid geographies/ Swimming on every tongue…” By Jumoke Verissimo.
Between Two Worlds
“Ursula spotted the three black students immediately. Everyone did. They could not be missed because they kept to themselves and apart from the rest….” Excerpted from ‘Between Two Worlds’, by Amma Darko.
A Dry Season Doctor in West Africa
“She presses her toes together. I will never marry, she says. Jamais dans cette vie! Where can I find a man like you?” By Viola Allo.
The Way of Meat
“Every day—any day—any one of us could be picked out for any reason, and we would be… We’d part like hair, pushing into the walls of our containment area, then alternately cry, call, or sigh when the farmhand wrestled his pick off the floor.” By Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond.
Shoots
“Sapling legs bend smoothly, power foot in place,/ her back, parallel to solid ground,/ makes her torso a table of support…” By Kadija Sesay.
What Took Us to War
“What took us to war has again begun,/ and what took us to war/ has opened its wide mouth/ again to confuse us.” By Patricia Jabbeh Wesley.
Quarter to War
“The footfalls fading from the streets/ The trees departing from the avenues/ The sweat evaporating from the skin…” By Jumoke Verissimo.
Sometimes, I Close My Eyes
“sometimes, this is the way of the world,/ the simple, ordinary world, where things are/ sometimes too ordinary to matter. Sometimes,/ I close my eyes, so I don’t have to see the world.” By Patricia Jabbeh Wesley.
The Score
“The person on the floor was unmistakeably dead. It looked like a woman; she couldn’t be sure yet…” By Hawa Jande Golakai.
Unmasking Female Circumcision
“Though the origins of the practice are unknown, many medical historians believe that FGM dates back to at least 2,000 years.” Gimel Samera looks at the brutality of FGM.
Not Just A Phase
“…in the workplace, a person can practically be forced out of their job by discrimination, taking numerous days off for fear of their physical safety and mental wellbeing.” Aaron Grierson confronts prejudice against bisexuality.
Talking Gender
“In fact it is often through the uninformed use of such words that language becomes a tool in perpetuating sexism and violence against women in society.” Sana Hussain on gender and language.
The Birth of Bigotry
“The psychology of prejudice demands that we are each our own moral police”. Maria Amir on the roots of bigotry and intolerance.